Cecil feathebstone hammond and william shackleton



' Sept. 25, 1928. 1,685,632

C. F. HAMMOND ET AL COMBIED 'STEP AND WALL OR EXTENSION LADDER FiledDec., 4, 1925 gmjn/ ATTOPNEY TES Patented Sept. 25,1928.

U NTED CEGID FEATHEBoNE HAMMOND AND WILLIAM sHAcKLn'roN,` oF LoNDoN;ENGLAND.

PATBN coxDINnD STEP ANDWALLOB EXTENSION LADDER.-

`Applimtnm led December 4, `1925, Serial No. 73,210, and inwGreatBritain December `11, 1924. j

This invention relates to improvements in combined stepand wallorextension-lad-y ders of the kindinwvhich the two ladders or laddersections are hinged together at one send and provided in the`neighbourhood ot the hinges with automatically operating locking meansfor use Whenthe laddersfa-re.

usedas selfisupporting steps and when the ladders are extendedto form awall-ladder. The invention comprises improved means for keffecting thelockingxand:unlockmgof the hinge joint, improved means for securingthe.v rungs or treads to the side rails or stringers. and `for tyingalso the-siderails together and l various details of construction whichwill" `be hereinafter set forth'. Q p Accordinv to this invention,

i Withflator disc-likejoint parts placed A'flatly rtogether, isprovidedwith spring supported or disc-likepartsof the hinges; thebolt in eachease bein guided in ahole in the. innerv joint part anc` being movablein a. direction substantially transverse ito .the ladder into` and out.of oneoranother, of aplurality ot holesjin the outer jointrpar't. `Eachboltor catch is mounted so` as to be movable longi- .Ltudinally,forexample, it may be carried by a `flat or leaf spring,"'at ornear one,end ot the s l.ring which is boltedoi" otherwise secure( at its otherendto a` Stringer Vot the ladder or steps.y the two springs atth'eir treeVends `bei-ng,provided with ,handles orv gripping devices'ornconnected achain or cord `tor withdrawing the bolts "from the holes inv the outerjoint parts of the hinge members. On the other hand, the bolt-s may beguided in the outer hinge members and the. holes torniing the lockingsockets for the bolts may be in the inner hinge members. Each hingemember is or may be' provided with a. slanting stop or extension piecenear the hinge, as in al rule joint, to prevent the hinges from openingtoo far when the two ladder portions or sections are opened out in linewith each other to forni a. wallor extension-ladder. One of these stopsmay be at an obtuse an- A gle to the strap of the hinge and the otherstop is then at an acute angle and these angles may coincide with theinclinations of the adjoining ends of the two ladder portions or theymay be both at substantially, a right angle. I j

the combina-A tionfstep-lader, comprising two ladder scel `tions hingedtogether by means ot hinges In the accompanying drawing: l :Figure l isafronti view, and

j Figure 2a side view of' adjacent-parts of a `combination laddershowing a hinge connection between them, inlaccordance with thisinventiom'the laddersections being in"V in Figure 2 with the laddersectionsin` position for use as a stepladder.

As shown, the" str'ii'igers or sides a olja suitable length, width and'th ic'kncss, are each provided with a nun'ibefrofshallow rectanguiargroovi-:s ata suitable angle to receive the ends of the treads c, 01, c2so that all the treads shall-be substantially horizontal when the ladderis in use as afwall-laiglder. Aln the middle of each Stringer and nearthe Figure is a. planview of the parts shown bottom'o'f each of thegrooves is bored a hole to vreceive ai long bolt or tie (l. The' lowerpart or section of the ladder is,`preferably, ina-de ratherwider.atthezbottom than at the top so as to increaseits stability` Theupper-j tion is preferably made wider thanl the others from front ftoback to form a platform and may be yslotted at each `side ,to "receive astrip of wood or metal to stiffen itlu "lhe'projecting` part oi thiswider tread is supporte lbv I"suitablemetal struts e. yThe treads c2 otthe `upper section or "extension-leidden which servesasthe legs or propwhen the ladder is to be used ,as a pair ot` steps, may all be ofthesame llcngthbut, lin this case, thetrea'ds are mounted lso to beparallel tothe treads 0 in the lower section when the ladder is used asa wall-ladder. It desired, the tern'iinal treads of each or only thelowcrmost `wall-ladder section may be provided with metal brackets orbraces screwed or bolted to the treads and the stringers` to reinforceor stifen the latter. i

The hinge straps f, g are made of sheet metal, each hinge-strap havingat one end a disc-like joint-part LJ centrally perforated to receive a.pivot j, suitably consisting of a rivet, and the disc-like joint part ofone hingemember of a pair is, preferably, offset so that the straps areinthe same plane. A hole Z5 is provided in each inner joint part h andtwo or more holes l are provided in each outer joint part lto serve assockets for bolts orcatches m, for locking the hinges in altermost treade ofthev lowerWall-ladder sec! Qintended to receive thom` and havin asli glit-V ly diminishing diameter at their outer ends.

relative position.

native positions, these bolts or `-catches consisting of shortcylindrical pieces of metal of a diameter slightly less than that of theholes Each bolt or catchis carried by flat or leaf .s )ring f/i, set tocause the bolt ont-he free end of the spring tobe pressed'intov the holela of the joint part L` and one or another of the holes Z,Z in thejointpart i, these h'olesbeing j positioned so that the ladder sections canbe locked inposition for use as a step-ladder, or

as' a Wall-ladder, or in scmeother desired In order toiremove the boltsor Acatches m from engagement in theirholes or sockets Z in the outerjoint parts, the free ends of the tivo springs'are connected together bya `short cliaiiror cord 0 and, to' prevent the springs from becomingstrained or bent by application of force in a Wrong direction, the

chain is coniined vor guided more or less on eachVV side Within thetriangular space enclosed by the strut @,tlie edge or Vback of astringer and the platform c.v

' The movable end oi each spring n may be guided by a platep secured tothe underside of the platform c and. having a slot or forkA at its outerend in which the spring can move, the inner end of the fork or slotlimiting the distance to which the 'springcan befdrawn inwardly bythelchain 0. l

Furthermore, for the purpose of limiting fthe spreading-ofthe laddersection when used as steps, a cliainorchaiiis 7"` may be permanentlyconnected at one end to one ladder` vj rsection and detachablyconnected, for eainple, by. al hook to the other ladder section.

Then the ladder sections are extended for use as a wall-ladder, themovement ot the ladder sections about the pivot j isvlimited lby theendsl of thesections abutting one against the other, as shown in Figure4. It'

desired, the'edgesl of the straps f, g 'may be made to coincide'with theends ot' the-sections, as indicated by the broken lines s, so

that these edges'abUtoIIe against the other,

the abutting edge ot'one strap being at anobtuse angle and that of theother strap at an acute angle to the. ,longitudinal edges of the straps.

The tie Lbolts cl. are,fprefera.bly set' Ain grooves t in the treads.Thus, when used as a step ladder, these tie bolts do notcause anyinconvenience in the use of the treads of the are movable through alimited distance.V

2. ln a combination ladder', ladder sections, hinge parts Vconnectingthe said ladder sections, each ot said hinge parts comprising a pair ofmembers i'otatively` connectedtogetiier and secured, resp`ectively,tosaid ladder sections, one of said :members having a transverse hole, abolt longitudinally slidable in said hole7 the other otsaidmembershaving a plurality of transverse holes'adapted', when said members arerelatively rotated,`

to register Withtlie transverse hole of Ithe 'former member and receivesaid bolt, leat springs carried at oppositefsides of one of the ladderIsections and engaging said bolts and tending to project said bolts intothe holes of the second-named members, a flexible connection extendingbetween the said `leaf springs, and guide plates each'limiting the'movementof one of said leafspriiigs to prevent tlie Withdrawal of thebolt associated With such spring from the hole ofthe irsts named member.

cscii FEATHERSTONE. HAMMOND. i d wiLnAM sHAcxLlEToN.

